Dare to Love Her

Being born into a very high society, royal family in the Victorian era, Scarlett was meant to do two things, to marry at a young age and have many children. Being rich, young, and beautiful, that was too easy, except for one thing. She had a deep secret that was unheard of and was looked down upon by everyone. Soon she finds a woman that sets her heart on fire, and can barely keep her secret contained. Will Scarlett finally let go of this dark secret she has, or be forced into a life she never wants to live?

I want to give credit to my friend Cera Seren for creating the character Sierra in my short story, and the title "Dare To Love Her".

Submitted:Oct 7, 2012
Reads: 1,233
Comments: 2
Likes: 5

"Stop moving darling, I need to tie this corsette of yours." My
mother, Eleanor, said to me as she tied my dreaded corsette up.

"I don't understand whyI have to wear this bloody thing. I can
barely breathe in it." I said, quite frustrated and completely
annoyed.

"Watch your language, Scarlett. You are meant to wear a corsette,
and nothing shall change that. Now put your new dress on and let
me see you. I want to make sure you look good for tonight." I
sighed, and put the dress on. It was white, with soft, light pink
lace, and had loose, short sleeves that hung off my shoulders.I
looked into the mirror and admired the dress. It actually was not
all that horrid looking, it was beautiful to be honest. I turned
around to face my mother.

"Oh, Scarlett... You look beautiful." She smiled at me and
fluffed out the skirt of the dress. "I think you will make a very
good impression tonight."

My mother, father, younger brother and I were formally invited to
a dinner and ball by a new family in our town, the West family.
According to the letter, Mr. West was looking for a woman tomarry
his son, Erik West. My mother quickly replied and said that I
would love to meet him, which is a complete lie. But
unfortunately, I am still being forced to go to the dinner to
meet him. They sold my older sister to an old, fat man with much
money two years ago, and they now have five children. I guess I
get the luck of the draw so to say. I picture Erik being a young,
hard working man who is in fit, but who is also wealthy. But
appearance doesn't matter when you're selling your daughter to a
complete stranger, I guess.

"What if he does not like me mother?" I ask.

"He will, I am sure of it. You look beautiful, and there is no
way any man could resist you my darling." She smiled and left the
room. I stood there, alone, and thought about what was going to
happen to me very soon. I was going to meet Erik, fall in love,
and be married. An eventually have children. That is my life as I
know it. But I am petrified to live it. I don't want to marry
Erik, or meet him. I don't want to come in contact with any man
at all. They disgust me, yet I am meant to be with one until I
die. I would rather live out my days alone than be forced to be
with a man.

On our way to the West's residence, my mother babbled on about
how she was going to make my wedding dress, what it would look
like, and so on. The whole time, i just stared out the window and
wished I was far away from here. I wished that I could be alone,
or in a more... excepting world. Where arranged marriages did not
have to happen, where a woman could choose to be with a man or
not, where a woman could be free. Free to be with who she loved.

"Scarlett?" My mother touched my hand. "Scarlett we are here." We
stepped out of the carriage and looked at the massive mansion in
front of us. It was about the same size of ours, but more spread
out and elegant in appearance. There was a beautiful garden in
front, and a grand stairway that led up to the big, white front
doors. After practically gawking at the West's house, we finally
went up to the doors and entered the house. Eventually, Mr. West
pushed past the rest of the guests and came towards us.

"Hello! You must be the Ambrose family. I am Byron West." He
smiled and shook my fathers hand. Mr. West's wife, two sons and
daughter walked up a few minutes later. "Ah, yes. This is my
wife, Louise, my eldest son, Erik, my youngest son, Reuben, and
my only daughter, Sierra." I glanced at Sierra, and instantly, my
heart melted. She was the same age as me, maybe a year or two
older, and completely and utterly stunning. Her dark blonde hair
was currled and put up in a messy, but elegant style. She had
deep, velvety, black eyes that made my whole world spin. Then she
looked at me and saw me staring at her, making me turn bright
red. I quickly looked away and glanced up. Everyone was staring
at me like my head was twice its size.

"Hello?" My father said to me.

"What was the question that was asked?" I asked and looked at
him. Everyone laughed.

"This is Erik honey." He touched Erik's shoulder.

"Hello." Erik smiled and kisses my hand. All I wanted to do is
run away from there.

"My boy is the hardest worker around. Back in America, he was the
best trader in all New York..." He continued to talk about their
life in America and how wonderful Erik is, but I zoned out of the
conversation. I looked back at Sierra, who was already looking at
me. She said something to Mr. West and lightly touched my hand,
then walked away. I was not sure if she wanted me to follow her
or not, but I followed anyways. She glanced back at me and
smiled, which made my insides flip in circles. She stopped and
grabbedtwo drinks, thenwent to an empty room.

"So you are Scarlett." She smiled and sat in a blue chair in the
middle of the room.

"Yes, I am." I smiled back and sat next to her. I took the drink
she handed to me and took a small sip. The cold, sweetness of
thedrink soothed my nerves and stopped me from shaking so much.

"I have heard much about you. My father says that you are the
girl that all the men talk about in this town." She sipped her
drink and looked at me.

"Well, that is what my mother thinks of me. She imagines that
every manwants me in their bed, but it is simply not true. At
least I do not think it is..." Sierra giggled.

"I see why they would want you. You're absolutely stunning." I
nervously glanced at her. Sheleaned over and lightly kissed me.
Her lipswere tender and sweet, andI wanted so much more of her
than her lips. She quickly pulled away and looked at me
nervously.

"I'm sorry... Umm..." She ran out of the room then, and left me
alone.

After arriving back at our home after many boring and uneventful
hours, I was finally able to think things out. I said my
goodnights to my mother, father, and brother, then retreated to
my room. I took my dress and corsette off and sighed with
relieve. I was so glad to be out of that bloody piece of
clothing. I layed on my bed and thought of the kiss that I shared
with Sierra that night. Her kiss made me absolutely melt with
desire and ever since then, I have been longing to touch her
again. I fell asleep that night, thinking about her and only her.

A week later, I was on the same platform I was on when my mother
was tying the same corsette to me the night I met Sierra. But
now, she was fitting me for my wedding dress. Erik asked for my
hand in marriage the day before, and before I could say anything,
my father immediately said yes. My mother has been frantic but
excited this whole week. She has dragged me every where with her
to get all the supplies and things that I should need for the
wedding. I was completely unexcited and heartbroken that I had to
marry someone that I did not love. But there was nothing that was
going to change that now.

That following night, mymother, father,and I went tothe West's
house for a short visit. I was most excited to see Sierra again,
to be honest. I have not seen her since the night we met the West
family, and she has been the only one I have thought about for
the past week. I had to see her.

After entering the house and being greeted by Byron, Louise, and
Erik, I wandered off, secretly in search for Sierra. I looked in
the room where we shared a kiss that night, and searched through
many other rooms throughout the house. I went upstairs and
knocked on one door and entered to see Sierra, sound asleep, on
the bed. I sneaked in and quietly shut the door. I watched her
for many minutes, mesmerizedby the way she looks when she sleeps.
I slowly walked to the side of the bed and sat next to her. I
leaned down and lightly kissed her lips. Oh how I have missed the
taste of her lips...

She shifted onto her back and opened her eyes. She smiled at me
and said, "I was wondering when you were going to come find me".
I quietly laughed and kissed her passionately. She pulled me down
and kissed me back. My body ached to feel her, to kiss her
everywhere, to be with her forever. I took her night gown off and
kissed down her smooth, clotheslessbody. She hungrily undressed
me and we made passionate love to each other for what it seemed
hours, even days. I never wanted it to end. Tasting every inch of
her made me want her so much more than I already did. I knew that
we were meant to be with each other, regardless what others'
would think. Sierra was meant to be my lover, and I was meant to
be hers.

After our love making, we layed in each others arms for a while,
and frequently stealing small, sweet kisses from one another.

"You know, your mother must be wondering where you are. You've
been gone for hours." She said after a while.

"Yes", I sighed, "she must be. I probably should go..." I got up
and got dressed in silence.

"I wish we could be together." Sierra said, breaking the silence.
I looked at her then, and she stared at me. "You know what? We
can be." She smiled.

"Are you daft? We cannot be together, even though I desperately
want to be. We would be killed for what we have done. Women
cannot be together in the ways we are. I am marrying your
brother, and there is no way that I can avoid this..."

"Do you want to bet? What if we run away?"

"Run away? That is completely insane!"

"Is it? Would you rather be forced into a marriage with my
brother in this hell ofa town, or live out your life with me?" I
stood there in contemplation for a long while. What if we did run
away? Where would we go? How would we survive? There would be no
way we could do this...

"My eldest brother Isaac has a hidden cabin in New Hampshire in
America that we could live in. He rarely uses it, and since I am
his younger, loving sister, I am sure he would let us have it."

"Are you sure that he would?"

"Yes." Could we actually do this? Or would we be caught while on
the run?

"All right. We shall run away to your brother's cabin in
America." Sierra smiled and hugged me. We were going to catch a
ferry over to America the next morning and live together, just
the two of us and a little cabin, forever.

That night, I quietly packed my bags and ever so quietly sneaked
out of the house. I met Sierra in the darkness and we quietly
made our way to the port where we went aboard the ferry in the
early morn. This was it. I left my family, my arranged marriage,
and everything else to be with the woman I loved. She did the
same, and we both were completely and totally sure that this was
the only thing to do for us to be together.

Now, to this day, we live happily in our small cabin in New
Hampshire in the United States. I am as happy as I can be, and so
is my beloved Sierra. People may die, families, loved ones, and
other things, but love... Love never dies.